Athens nonprofit Project Safe grooved, jiggled and jived its way to more than $25,000 in donations at the 16th annual Groovy Nights fundraiser on Aug. 26.

The theme for this year’s annual blast-from-the-past was “Battle of the Decades - Lip Sync Edition,” and featured five teams of performers battling it out to the hottest songs from the 1970s and 1980s on the stage at 40 Watt.

The audience chose the winners by “voting with their dollars,” said Project Safe Executive Director Joan Prittie.

Suga & Spyce, a team comprising Margaret Williamson and Amy Parrish, took home the championship belt and the Audience Favorite Award with their performance of Salt-n-Pepa’s Push It.

Adnan Curry, who performed Elvis Presley’s Hunk of Burning Love as “Little Elvis,” took home to the Judges Choice Award.

In addition to the money raised by voting, Project Safe also made a large portion of the funds through sponsorships and ticket sales at the event.

The funds raised at Groovy Nights benefits the Athens-based, nonprofit organization working to end domestic violence.

“Ninety percent of the funds donated to Project Safe go directly to programs and services,” Prittie said. “We utilize the funds from Groovy Nights for client assistance, but also for our emergency shelter and outreach programs.”

Prittie added that the retro feel of the party paid homage to the 1970s, the decade that gave birth to the modern movement against domestic violence and also the decade that gave birth to Project Safe in Athens.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time,” Prittie said. “Everything we do is because we believe that everyone deserves to be safe in their homes and safe in their relationships.”

For more information about Groovy Nights or Project Safe, call (706) 549-0922 or visit www.project-safe.org.